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THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2011
MISSION AUTHOR LAUNCHES NEW BOOK Elliott discusses restorative justice in Security with Care
PAGE 18
District faces lawsuit BY CAROL AUN Mission Record
NDP candidate Craig Speirs (left) congratulates Conservative Randy Kamp Monday evening on his victory in the local riding. COLLEEN FLANAGAN PHOTO
Kamp returns to Ottawa again BY MONISHA MARTINS AND JASON ROESSLE Black Press
Candidate Randy Kamp won his fourth term as MP Monday, winning the Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge-Mission riding by almost 10,000 votes as Conservative blue swept the country. Kamp gave his victory speech an hour and 45 minutes after polls closed at 7 p.m. “I felt there was a growing appetite for a majority,” said Kamp as the crowd cheered the Conservative sweep of 166 seats. “It’s a better result than I thought
It’s a better result than I thought it would be. – MP Randy Kamp
it would be. It shows that people were really tired of elections and wanted stability.” At the final tally, Kamp had garnered 28,848 votes, over NDP candidate Craig Speirs’ 18,865. Liberal Mandeep Bhuller came a distant third, taking 2,738 votes, while Green Peter Tam wasn’t far
behind with 2,642. Kamp said the Conservative majority will allow his government to pass key legislation like abolishing the gun registry and other crime bills. “I thought the results would be a little closer,” he added. “I’m pleased.” Kamp pushed his lead from the 2008 election over his nearest rival by more than 2,000 votes. Speirs, a Maple Ridge councillor, and Mike Bocking, who ran against Kamp in 2008, congratulated Kamp on his victory in person. “Kamp ran a good campaign. He has a block of support in Pitt
Meadows-Maple Ridge-Mission and that’s shone through. You can’t argue with the voter,” said Speirs. The mood at the headquarters for NDP candidate was quiet, after he conceded defeat. The local riding just isn’t quite ready to shed its Conservative skin, said Speirs. “We’ve got something to build on,” he said to the crowd of approximately 30 supporters gathered at the Maple Ridge NDP headquarters. “We came a lot closer this time.”
The District of Mission is facing a class action lawsuit launched by local residents who believe their rights were violated when their properties were inspected by the Public Safety Inspection Team (PSIT). The announcement was made by the B.C. Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA), who is supporting residents, Wednesday morning in Vancouver after The Record’s deadline. Micheal Vonn, policy director for BCCLA, hopes the legal action will provide compensation for those hurt by the program, and help protect people’s rights in all municipalities with similar bylaws. It’s an important area of the law to shape because the programs are new, said Vonn, adding outsourcing police work to safety inspectors continues to be controversial. BCCLA has had concerns about municipalities using BC Hydro data to determine unusually high power consumption to target homes for inspection since the legislation was introduced by the provincial government in 2006. People who have had their homes searched for a marijuana grow operation reported being intimidated and abused by the PSIT members, and their reputations in their neighbourhoods have been tainted, said Vonn. “People have lost their house, lost their job, and can’t get across the border.” Vonn noted the findings aren’t just registered on land titles, police are
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